Mulgrew denounces DOE's "decade of test prep"

For immediate release

August 5, 2013

The state on August 7 will release the results of the first set of state tests tied to the new Common Core standards. The state sent a letter to principals on August 2 confirming that the scores will be "significantly lower" than in the past. The Department of Education accused the UFT of trying to "politicize" the issue after it argued that the lower scores undermined the mayor's claims of educational progress and showed that the DOE had not done enough to train teachers for the new standards.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew responded with the following statement:

This week we are going to see that a decade of test prep — rather than real learning — has left New York City school children far behind where they should be. That is not "politicizing" the issue. That's reality.

Mayor Bloomberg could have changed course years ago. He didn't. And he ignored the pleas of parents and teachers who said we were headed in the wrong direction. The result is that once again students and schools are paying the price for the mayor's failed policies.

Teachers will never be silent when they see something that they know hurts children.